Legal Definitions - SECTION 43(A) ACTION

A Section 43(a) action is a type of legal action that can be taken by a person or company if they believe someone else is engaging in deceptive trade practices. This type of action is covered by the Lanham Trademark Act and can include a variety of different practices, such as:

• Passing off: When someone tries to pass off their product or service as being associated with another company or brand.
• False advertising: When someone makes false or misleading claims about their product or service in order to sell more of it.
• Trade-dress infringement: When someone uses a design or packaging that is similar to another company's in order to confuse customers.
• Trademark dilution: When someone uses a well-known trademark in a way that weakens its distinctiveness or reputation.
• Cyberpiracy: When someone registers a domain name that is similar to another company's in order to profit from their brand recognition.

For example, if a company creates a product that looks very similar to a popular brand's product and uses similar packaging, they could be accused of trade-dress infringement. Similarly, if a company makes false claims about the benefits of their product in order to sell more of it, they could be accused of false advertising.